CAIRNS MUSEUM SCHOOL KIT 2
Contents List & Object Stories
2016
This Schools Kit has been prepared by volunteers
from Cairns Museum for the enjoyment of young
people growing up in Cairns today.
We hope you are interested in the items we have
selected, and the stories that go with them.
Putting this kit together for you has made us all realise
how dramatically electricity changed our lives.
Electricity first came to Cairns in 1925, but it wasn’t
until the 1950s that electric stoves, fridges and
washing machines were common in people’s homes.
Nowdays we’re all trying to be more economical in how
we use electricity, and it is interesting to ask yourself
how many of the things we talk about in this kit would
YOU be prepared to do to save power?
Please take care of these special objects, so we
can hand them on to another group after you have
finished with them.
If anything breaks, please let us know.
Call the Museum on 07 4051 5582 or email
[email protected]. We promise not to
break anyone’s kneecaps!
Teachers: we have also included some examples of object analysis tasks that
you could use with this kit. These sheets have been prepared by the Qld
Department of Education and the Queensland Museum. Please feel free to
copy and use them as you see fit.
Contents: Kit 2
1:
SAD or Flat Iron. Museum#: 91-44
2:
Mincer. Museum#: 1992-939
3:
A Hurricane Lamp. Museum# 98-34
4:
Box Brownie Camera. Museum# 92- 498
5:
Primus stove. Museum#: 84-85
6:
Pegs x 2. No number
7:
Flour Sifter: Museum # 98-42
8:
Biscuit Pusher: Museum # 82-55
9:
Butter Churn (94-1) Butter Pat (88.229)
10: Candle Lamp: Museum # 81.27
11: Carbide Light. Museum # 92-322
12: Rotary Egg Beater: Museum # 92-623
13: Scales + dish + weights x 2. Museum # 92340
14: Tin Bells Waterproof Matches. No number
15 Shoe Stretch. Museum # 84-16b
16: Tobacco Cutter Museum # 93.9
17: School Bag. Museum # 97-138
18: School Books x 7
19+: Object analysis activity sheets: –
examples, Teacher notes, templates
Item 1: SAD or Flat Iron. Museum#: 91-44
Before electricity, ironing was a hot and heavy process.
The irons were heavy like this one, and they were heated up on
the top of stove. They were known as SAD irons, which is
believed to be a shorthand term for “solid”.
The person doing the ironing usually had two irons on the go – the
one he or she was ironing with and the other heating up on the
stove, ready to use when the other one cooled down. They didn’t
stay hot by themselves; you had to stick them on the top of the
wooden stove.
Imagine having to iron near a wooden stove on a hot day in Cairns
– remember there was no such thing as air conditioning.
Later on they invented a fancy system called a “Mrs Potts Iron”.
With this system you got three flat bits and one handle that you
could swap between them. It was much faster. There is a Mrs
Potts Iron in the Cairns Museum.
These irons also made great doorstoppers, once electricity came
and you didn’t need them any more!
Item 2: A Mincer. Museum#: 1992-939
Back in the old days, there were no supermarkets, and butchers
only sold whole pieces of meat.
If you wanted minced meat, or chicken, you had to make it
yourself.
Most families would have had a mincer like this attached to their
kitchen table. Meat was fed through the top, you turned the handle
and minced meat came out the bottom.
If you undo the big nut at the front, you will see that there are three
different attachments inside. This was so you could have different
types of mince.
When you had finished mincing, you put a piece of bread through
to make sure you had got all the meat out of the mincer – you
didn’t want to waste any!
These days, you can buy mince at plenty of places and so not
many people still rely on a mincer like this. But plenty of fishermen
like using them for burley – and fit pretty well on the side of a tinny!
Item 3: A Hurricane Lamp. Museum# 98-34
In the old days before electricity, every house and workplace relied
on kerosene lamps and lanterns.
Kerosene was a fuel that was cheap and not too explosive, so it
was a common fuel for domestic and industrial lighting.
This style of lantern was called a Hurricane Lamp – Hurricane was
the brand name and they boasted their lanterns would stay alight
in any storm.
The fuel is stored in the tank at the bottom and a cotton wick is lit
at the top of the tank. The little winder on the side allowed you to
adjust the length of wick and the glass shield stopped the wind
blowing the lantern out.
A longer wick meant a bigger flame and more light BUT a bigger
flame also produced more smoke, which meant the glass cover
quickly got dulled with soot. Most people opted for a smaller flame
and more consistent light.
These were common lights in houses right through until the 1950s
and 60s. Before electricity, lights like these were kept burning
overnight so there would always be some light in case of
emergencies.
It could also have been kept by the back door, to use when people
needed to walk to the bottom of the garden to find the toilet!
Lighting the lamps was a job that older kids and parents did, but
cleaning the lamps was a job for everyone! Kerosene gave off a
bit of smoke and the lamp covers got covered in soot pretty
quickly. If you wanted good lighting, you had to keep you lamps
clean!
This style of light is still sold today. Do you have one at your
house? When does your family use it?
Item 4: Box Brownie Camera. Museum# 92- 498
Back in the 1950s and 60s, the box Brownie was the most modern,
affordable camera for families to take everyday photos.
Before the Brownie, if you wanted a photo taken you had to go to a
studio and get it taken by a professional photographer, or wait for a
professional photographer to visit your town or farm.
Through the Brownie, Kodak popularised the idea of the
‘snapshot’, by providing film that could be bought locally, inserted
into the camera simply, and the developed locally by chemists.
Brownie photographs were always black and white and the image
was usually the same size as the film – about 2 ¼ inches by 3 ¼
inches.
You took the photo by looking through the lens at the top and
moving around until you had framed the photograph as you wanted
it – there was no lens adjustment.
The shutter was the silver button on the side, at the bottom.
Our volunteers say the box Brownie used to take great photos, and
Pauline’s mum used to develop her own films in the bathroom.
Item 5: Primus stove. Museum#: 84-85
This strange looking thing is a primus stove, made of brass.
In the days before electricity, little stoves like this were used as a
quick means of boiling water for a cup of tea or heating up a soup
– it was quicker than lighting a big wooden stove.
They ran on kerosene - but lighting them was a slightly
complicated and potentially dangerous process, involving two
different fuels.
Kerosene wasn’t very flammable – it needed to be warmed and lit
from a hot flame. So you needed another fuel, methylated spirits
(which was very flammable), to warm the kerosene and light it in
the burner.
The process went like this:
Step 1: Fill the tank with kerosene
Step 2: Pump the tank, using the built in pump on the side, to
build up pressure and force the kerosene up the spout.
Step 3: Put a little bit of methylated spirits (metho), in the little tray
near the top of the spout.
Step 4: Light the metho, which heated up the burner.
Step 5: Turn the little valve on the tank that releases the kero up
the spout and into the burner, and it lights from the flame
fuelled by the metho. It made a big whoosh noise when it
lit.
If you ran out of metho and the flame went out before the kerosene
was lit, you had to be very careful because the little tray was
already very hot and as soon as you put more metho in, it would
light.
Val from the museum says she set the kitchen alight TWICE by
adding metho to a hot tray and Bill her husband says after the
second time he went out and bought an electric stove .. lucky there
was electricity then!
Anna from the museum says they were smelly and noisy and as
soon as the kettle was boiled, everyone was very happy to turn
them off!
She says wood stoves were lovely but we don’t miss kerosene
burners.
Item 6: Pegs. Museum# 004
These were known as Dolly pegs and in the days before plastic,
everyone had them.
Washing in the old days was a major event that took three days
every week.
On the first day clothes were soaked
On the second day, you scrubbed the cuffs and collars and any
other stains – and in those days there were mainly WHITE shirts,
sheets, aprons and underwear!
One the third day all the clothes would be put in a big copper boiler
that was heated by a fire underneath. The water got pretty hot
and you needed a big pairs of tongs or a stick to take the clothes
out or stir them around.
The Cairns museum has an old boiler and wringer on display.
Washing was a hot, hard job – especially for those women who
worked in laundries.
Then there was a big long clothes line held up by a prop that could
fall down and put your washing back in the dirt!
Anna and Val from the museum say they used to put heads on the
dolly pegs and make dresses for them – instant Barbie Dolls.
Item 7: Flour Sifter: Museum # 98-42
This item was found in every kitchen.
It’s a flour sifter – you put your flour in the top, pull the levers on
the handle and the flour is squeezed through the mesh – no lumps!
Flour is an essential ingredient in cakes and bread.
Back in the days when people had to bake all their own cakes,
biscuits and bread, lumps in the flour meant your cake or break
mixture didn’t blend properly.
There’s nothing worse than finding a lump of raw flour in your
piece of cake!
If your mum or dad or nanna still bakes cakes, you might find a
modern one of these in the kitchen draw. What is it made of?
Item 8: Biscuit Pusher: Museum # 82-55
This was used to make different shapes of biscuits – they all tasted
the same but they looked different!
You pull the wooden handle up and out and then put the dough
inside the tube. Then you put the centre bit back on the top and
squeeze down slowly. The dough is forced through the pointy end
and you can then make the shape.
They came with different ends, depending on what shape you
wanted. This one has a smooth end, but some had jagged ends
and the biscuits would have little lines and ridges on them.
Item 9: Butter Churn (94-1) Butter Pat (88.229)
Back in the old days, there were no supermarkets and the roads
were terrible – so people didn’t travel around as much as we do
today, even to the shop.
If you were on a farm, you might only get supplies delivered once a
month.
A lot of the time, if people needed something they made it
themselves – like butter.
You make butter from milk – you put the milk into a separator,
which is like a drum with a handle. You turn the handle around
and around to spin the milk, and it eventually separates into cream
(solid) and skim milk (liquid).
In the old days people used to feed skim milk to the pigs – they
would never have dreamed of drinking it!
You then took your cream and put in into a butter churn like this
one, and mixed it again. Turning the handle was hard work!
The cream gradually separated again into butter (solid) and butter
milk (liquid). Buttermilk was good for making scones but not for
much else.
You then used these butter pats to squeeze and shape your butter
into a square, which forced out any remaining butter milk, so your
butter was nice and firm.
You could try making butter with cream from the supermarket –
how long do you think it will take?
Item 10: Candle Lamp: Museum # 81.27
This little light has got a story to tell!
It was probably made in England and came to Australia as a
special gift for someone starting a new life in Far North
Queensland.
When the lady who owned it set up her first house in Cairns, it held
pride of place in the family drawing room – the best room in the
house. It helped ladies see to do their sewing and shed light for
letter writing and reading. No radio or TV in those days.
When the first chips and marks appeared, it was moved out of the
drawing room and into the kitchen. In the early mornings it shed
enough light to start the fire. In the evening it was carried through
the house to get the kids safely to bed.
When they got a brighter kerosene light for the kitchen in the
1920s, it was moved out the toilet, down the end of the yard. In
the middle of the night it was very comforting to have a bit of light!
When electricity came, it got moved to the camping kit. It was
easy to carry and always handy to have by the river or near the
tent.
It may be battered a bruised – but its got a great story. Feel how
smooth the handle is. That’s because of all the people who have
handled it.
Item 11: Carbide Light. Museum # 92-322
This funny looking thing was another common light people used
before electric lights – it’s called a carbide light.
Carbide is a special fuel. It used to be sold in solid blocks at local
stores around Cairns. When you mix water with carbide it
produces a gas. You light the gas and you get a flame.
To use this light, you put carbide inside the can that sits inside the
jug. Have a close look -the can unscrews at the bottom.
Then you put water in jug part and sit the can part in the water.
The water seeps into the carbide and gas starts to form. The gas
is pushed up the tube and comes out the small hole at the top of
the tube. Light the gas and you have a great lantern.
These days carbide isn’t sold in shops – it’s considered too
dangerous!
Item 12: Rotary Egg Beater: Museum # 92-623
This is an old fashioned egg beater.
If you wanted nice firm egg whites to make meringue, then you use
one of these.
It’s hard work to beat them stiff, but there was no electricity and so
you just had to keep going!
Item 13: Scales. Museum # 92-340
Back in the old days, a set of scales was a common sight in homes
and businesses.
Unlike today where everything is packaged, in the old days things
like flour, sugar, rice and tea didn’t come in little packets but rather
in big bulk sacks, which were delivered to local grocery stores.
Shopkeepers would measure amounts for sale using scales.
You just put a 1 pound or 2 pound official weight on one side, and
then put whatever you wanted measured on the other (tea,
tobacco, flour etc ). When the scales balanced evenly, you had
exactly 1 pound or 2 pounds of butter or flour or tobacco.
We think these scales were used in the post office to weigh mail.
They are a very light weight, fine construction and would have
been good for weighing very light objects – like letters.
Mail is still weighed today, but the post office now has digital
scales – much less fuss than using scales like these and trying to
get them to balance against set weights.
Item 14: Tin Bells Waterproof Matches. # 00
Matches have always been indispensable – but they haven’t
always been made of wood.
In the old days they were made of wax, and they had a blue tip.
They came in tins like this and they were packed across ways. On
the bottom of the tin is a rough bit and you struck the blue tip on
this and the matches lit.
You had to use them pretty quickly as they were only about an inch
long and if you were too slow the wax would melt and stick to your
fingers and you would be able to throw the burning match away!
Because they were made of wax and were kept in tins they kept
pretty dry.
Bill says they were probably fazed out because the blue head was
really flammable – as a kid he and his mates would put them on a
sheet of metal and hit them with a hammer and they would
explode! Today’s matches won’t do that.
These are probably the ones that cowboys and girls used to be
able to light on the bottom of their boots.
.
Item 15: Shoe Stretch. Museum # 84-16b
This nifty little item is called a shoe stretch.
If your leather shoes got wet, your would insert the shoe stretch
into the toe of the shoe and it would insure that the leather didn’t
shrink too much as it dried out.
In the old days people only had a couple of pairs of shoes – so
caring for them was important. Shoes were expensive and most
families didn’t have the money to buy new shoes every year.
Shoes were often handed down from older brothers and sisters, or
even from the neighbours. If the shoe was a little too tight, the
shoe stretch would help stretch it. Just wet the leather and insert
the stretch.
Would this item work to stretch a pair of sneakers?
Item 16: Tobacco Cutter Museum # 93.9
In the old days, before the harmful effects of smoking were known,
most men smoked. And before the days of the ready-made
cigarettes or cigarette papers, everyone smoked a pipe.
In Cairns, it was unusual for women to smoke a pipe. If they did,
they were likely to smoke it at home and not out in public, as it was
considered “un-ladylike” to do so.
In the days of the pipe, tobacco was sold in plugs – solid blocks of
moist tobacco leaves that were compressed into a block shape.
You needed a tobacco cutter like this one to shave enough
tobacco off your block to fit into your pipe.
The block fitted under the bar at the bottom of the cutter, and you
brought the blade down to trim off the tobacco for smoking.
After WW2, ready rolled, filter-tipped cigarettes became more
common, and more popular because you didn’t need all this
equipment. Women too found filter tips more acceptable and more
women began smoking in public.
As information about the links between tobacco and cancer
became known in the 1970s, people began thinking about their
smoking. Government anti-smoking campaigns really began in the
1980s and since them, smoking rates have been decreasing in
Australia.
Item 17: School Bag. Museum # 97-138
Does this look like your backpack?
Nowdays your school bag is probably made of nylon, in special
school colours.
Back in the old days, school bags weren’t nearly as colourful. This
blue model would have been pretty cool!
Most kids walked or rode a bike to school, so the bag rode on their
backs.
Which is bigger – your bag today or this one? Why do you think
that is?
Item 18: School Books x 7
How do these books compare with your schoolbooks today?
Do you think the lessons are harder or easier? Could you do the
spelling tasks?
Arithmetic Book Grade 4
(1938) # B 98-69
School Reader Grade 2
(1939) B98-97
History Book Grade 2- 1938
B98-92
Fun With Spelling 1965
210-284
Spelling Aid Grade 3 – 1964 School Paper Grade 6 & 7
B98-172
(1969) B 98.123
School Reader Prep 1
2010-499
Ask your mum or dad or Aunty or Nanna about how they learnt to
spell, or how they learnt their maths. I bet it is really different from
how you learn today.
Make a list of five things that you think are different about these
books and the information in them.